One of the several women who accused Jeffrey Epstein of sex trafficking died on Friday at the age of 41.
Virginia Giuffre was pronounced dead by suicide at her farm in Western Australia, her publicist confirmed to the Associated Press.
“Deeply loving, wise and funny, she was a beacon to other survivors and victims,” publicist Dini von Mueffling said in a statement to the AP.
“She adored her children and many animals. She was always more concerned with me than with herself. I will miss her beyond words. It was the privilege of a lifetime to represent her,” she added.
Giuffre supported sexual assault survivors through her SOAR charity, which stands for “speak out, act and reclaim.” She found herself in the global spotlight after publicly accusing several powerful men, including Epstein and Prince Andrew, of sex abuse.
Giuffre, who was born in the U.S. but resided in Australia for years, offered her anonymous testimony about years of assault at the hands of Epstein after he was sentenced to 18 months in jail for soliciting prostitution in 2009. She came out publicly with her accusation in 2015.
She said Epstein and his longtime partner Ghislaine Maxwell hired her as a masseuse following their introduction at President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in the early 2000s. Giuffre was just a teenager at the time.
Giuffre alleged that Maxwell and Epstein forced her to perform sexual acts for them and many others, including Prince Andrew, former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D) and former Sen. George Mitchell (D-Maine). She sued the British royal in 2021.
Epstein died in August 2019 by suicide while awaiting trial on U.S. federal sex trafficking charges. Maxwell was convicted in 2021 on federal sex trafficking charges and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Giuffre’s death comes just a few months after Attorney General Pam Bondi declassified the first phase of documents detailing the actions of Epstein and his close associates. However, the release provided little new information, causing an uproar.
“There will be no cover-ups, no missing documents, and no stone left unturned — and anyone from the prior or current Bureau who undermines this will be swiftly pursued. If there are gaps, we will find them,” FBI Director Kash Patel said at the time.
“If records have been hidden, we will uncover them. And we will bring everything we find to the DOJ to be fully assessed and transparently disseminated to the American people as it should be,” he added.
Late last month, Giuffre posted on social media stating that she had four days to live after being struck by a bus in a car crash. She said she was in renal failure at the time.
“Virginia was a fierce warrior in the fight against sexual abuse and sex trafficking. She was the light that lifted so many survivors,” her family said in a statement. “Despite all the adversity she faced in her life, she shone so bright. She will be missed beyond measure.”